Pin down what the disagreement is about before choosing a route
Appraisal settles one kind of argument: how much the repair should cost and what it should include. It does not decide whether you are covered, and it does not decide who caused the collision. If the insurance company is refusing the claim, or has placed you at fault and you think the diagram is wrong, those disputes go through the complaint process, not appraisal.
So start by getting the insurance company’s appraisal in writing and putting it beside the shop’s estimate. The gap is almost always made of specific lines. A labour rate. Refinish hours on a panel. A blend into the next door that one side left off. An aftermarket bumper cover where the shop wrote a factory one. A panel written as repair where the shop says it must be replaced. A camera or radar calibration that only one document lists. Once you can name the lines, you know what you are disputing and roughly how much of the bill it represents.
Six steps from supplement to OmbudService, cheapest first
Each step below is cheaper and faster than the one after it, so work up from the bottom and keep every exchange in email.
- Teardown and supplement: once the bumper or door trim is off, hidden damage is photographed and sent as a supplement, and many gaps close here on evidence alone.
- Re-inspection at the vehicle: if the first figure came from photos, ask for an appraiser to look at the car on the hoist rather than another desk review.
- Adjuster’s manager: a short written request for a review of named lines, with the shop’s supporting photos or repair procedures attached.
- Complaints officer: every insurance company licensed in Ontario has a complaint-handling process; ask it for a final written position on the dispute.
- Formal appraisal under the policy: for a disagreement on the amount that is still large enough to justify the cost.
- General Insurance OmbudService: a free, independent review once the company’s internal process has finished.
Formal appraisal: two appraisers, an umpire, and a decision on the amount
The statutory conditions printed in every Ontario auto policy say that a disagreement over the nature and extent of repairs, or over the amount payable, is settled through the dispute process set out in the Insurance Act. In practice it works like this. You and the insurance company each appoint an appraiser. The two appraisers choose an umpire. They try to agree on the figure; anything they cannot agree on goes to the umpire, and a written decision signed by any two of the three fixes the amount.
The costs are shared in a set way: each side generally pays its own appraiser, and the umpire’s fees and other appraisal costs are split. That is why appraisal makes sense on a large gap, such as a disputed structural repair or a replace-versus-repair argument on a quarter panel, and rarely on a disagreement over a blend. Before appointing anyone, get the appraiser’s fee arrangement in writing and ask what experience they have with collision estimates on your kind of car.
Remember the limit. The appraisers decide the amount. They do not rule on coverage, fault, or anything outside the repair figure.
When the OmbudService, FSRA or a lawyer becomes the next step
The General Insurance OmbudService is an independent body that reviews complaints about home and auto insurance companies at no cost to you. It expects you to have gone through the company’s own complaint process first, and its outcome is a recommendation rather than an order. Many disputes still end there, because a company that has to explain its appraisal to an outside reviewer often revisits it.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, FSRA, regulates insurance companies and accepts complaints about how a claim was handled. The Licence Appeal Tribunal, which people sometimes mention, deals with accident benefits for injuries, not with damage to the car. Going to court against your own insurance company over a repair amount is a last resort, and a conversation with a lawyer belongs before it, not after.
What you can keep doing while the amount is argued
A dispute over the figure does not take away your choice of shop, and it does not have to freeze the car. You can authorize the work both sides already agree on, so parts are ordered while the contested lines are argued. Ask the shop to keep the disputed operations clearly marked, so nobody is confused later about what was approved and what was not.
Keep the rental limit and any storage charges in view. A rental under direct compensation or OPCF 20 has limits, and a long dispute can outrun them. Do not pay the difference out of pocket just to make the problem go away until someone has compared the two estimates line by line. At our counter, our estimator writes the supporting notes for each contested line and talks to the appraiser directly, in English or Mandarin with you, so you are not relaying a refinish-hours argument by phone.
Questions people ask
If I start formal appraisal, do I lose the right to use my own shop?
No. Appraisal decides the amount the insurance company pays. Where the car is repaired is still your choice, and the shop you picked can do the work once the figure is settled.
Can appraisal overturn the insurance company’s fault decision?
No. Appraisal deals only with the repair amount and its scope. A fault ruling is challenged through the company’s complaint process and, after that, the OmbudService.
Who should I appoint as my appraiser?
Someone independent of the insurance company who writes collision estimates for a living and can defend each line. Ask for the fee arrangement in writing before you agree, because you are generally paying for your own appraiser.
How long does a formal appraisal take?
There is no set number of days. Expect it to run in weeks rather than days, because two appraisers have to inspect, compare and possibly bring in an umpire. That delay is one more reason to exhaust the faster steps first.